Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, September 3, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
We all shine like the brightness of the sky. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Not just in some distant future we can’t really comprehend, but here and now. Heaven, in fact, is here and now. There is no shame and everlasting contempt, only this eternal life that is already and not yet.
I mean, I look at my daughter (pictured)—twenty-five years old and working at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival—and I am astonished at the way she shines. Absolutely like the brightness of the sky. Has she earned her glory in some way? No. It is 100% gift from God. A gift to me and to the world.
This is true of me. And it’s true of you. And it’s true of every person and created being—everything. It’s there to bask in, that shining brightness, if only we look. It’s there to shine on others, if only we show up.
Where is God calling me to shine like the sun today?
